Laibach rock concert in North Korea video: Slovenian band first to play Communist state

A Slovenian avant-garde band Laibach performed in Pyongyang as the first western group to ever played in North Korea on 19 August.

Video filmed by the North's state news agency KCNA showed the band performing at Ponghwa Art Theatre in Pyongyang. In the footage, the band was seen singing a Korean traditional song called Arirang as one member wore Korean traditional clothes.

Laibach, whose name is the German version for the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, formed in communist Yugoslavia in 1980 and is one of the country's well known bands. KCNA said the concert was held under the joint name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)-Europe Association for the Promotion of Cultural Interchange, Norwegian Traavik Art Company and the band Laibach.

According to the band's official website, Laibach is also scheduled to perform in Pyongyang on 20 August. The concerts will also be the subject of a documentary film scheduled to premiere in 2016.